Citigroup’s investment bank plans to recruit 2,500 programmers this year as technology reshapes the business. The move should save as much as $600 million in 2020.
Citi intends to beef up the unit that houses its traders and investment bankers with coders and data scientists. The Institutional Clients Group (ICG) arm, which already has 23,000 technology specialists in its ICG business globally, said the new roles will be in London, New York, Shanghai, Toronto, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Pune and Chennai in India, and Tampa, Florida.
The hires reflect what we are building in technology and why we are focused on making salespeople and traders more effective at servicing our clients, said Stuart Riley, Citi’s global head of operations and technology.
About three-quarters of the company’s trade orders last year were electronic, according to Riley. Technology is augmenting what humans do by making better use of data.
Citigroup budgets roughly $8.5 billion, or about 20 percent of total expenses for technology every year. Bank of America Corp has said it spends approximately $10 billion on technology, with about US$3 billion allocated to new projects.
Global banks are investing billions in a race to apply technologies that make front-office staff more efficient and keep clients trading. Other firms that are hiring as computer specialists include Goldman Sachs Group Inc and J.P. Morgan.
